Friday, March 14, 2008

Don't fence me in

pic by Ray Crooke

from wOne thing I like about Fijian villages is the fact that there are no fences between houses or around the whole village. There is a trust between people perhaps. Although chooks may sometimes roam freely and scratch around, this is not enough reason to put up fences. In Suva though there are certainly fences around many houses. I notice in Namadi Heights how many security alarms there are, guard dogs, and lock-up gates. Not very nice. I guess it is the fear of burglars mainly that makes people put up boundaries like this.

Well, back in our compound in Australia we've just had our side fence pulled down 220 feet of it because the neighbour bulldozed down grandpa's house to flatten the compound to put up four units. Hmmm. Our fence was untidy and covered with ivy and had to go. They've half pulled down the other side fence and now I can shout out 'hello' to a near neighbour!

The weather is terrible today - about 45 degrees centigrade in the sun and the hot north wind is blowing up dust from the vacant block.

And, our neighbour says he will put up a seven-foot fence. Seven-foot. I can't see over that one. All I can do, perhaps is make a hand gesture to say hello! My ideal community would have houses surrounding a small park that is used by everyone - without fences, but of course little children have to be protected from wandering so there is a problem. But marking boundaries as 'this is mine' - well, I don't like that.

Peceli put a rope along the fenceline at the front to make sure they don't pinch a couple of feet when they put up the sevenfooter. I've just been yarning with an old guy when I bought the papers at the fish and chip shop, and he told me the history of our house and the neighbourhood. They used to have cows in the backyards when he was a boy and he lived next door. I'll write about it later.w.

Links

About Me

Introducing Peceli and Wendy. Babasiga (pronounced bambasinga) is the dry land of Macuata in northern Fiji - our place in the sun in Fiji. The town is Labasa and our village is Vatuadova and the beach is Nukutatava. We are part of Wailevu Fijian tribe with relatives in Mali Island and Naseakula village. Peceli was born in Labasa and Wendy is an Australian and today live in Geelong, Australia.